ARS | Publication request: QTL ANALYSIS OF SOLID CONTENT, PUNGENCY, AND ANTIPLATELET ACTIVITY OF ONION(ALLIUM CEPA L)

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 10, 1999
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Solid content is an important characteristic related to onion flavor, texture and storability and has practical importance for the dehydration industry. Among the salutary effects of Allium vegetables on the cardiovascular system is the inhibition of platelet activity. Platelets play a key role in thrombosis and acute coronary syndromes because they facilitate blood coagulation. Pungency is also an important commercial trait. A 138-point genetic map is being used to identify and estimate the magnitude of quantitative trait loci controlling, solid content, pungency, and health-enhancing attributes of onion. QTL controlling pungency, total solids, soluble solids, and antiplatelet activity were estimated using 54 F3 families, derived from the cross between Brigham Yellow Globe 15-23 (BYG15-23) and Ailsa Craig (AC43). The families, the two parents and controls were evaluated in four environments, at Palmyra or Randolph, WI, during 1997 and 1998, on muck soils. For the analyzed traits there is evidence of trangressive segregation, the distributions are, in general, skewed towards the BYG 15-23 parent. Our results confirmed the existence of strong phenotypic correlations among the traits under study. QTL data available also suggest the existence of significant correlations between markers and the traits under study. Most of the markers that are significant for pungency and antiplatelet activity are also significant for solids, suggesting that these characteristics may be controlled by the same chromosome regions.